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thaatswhatsheread's review against another edition
5.0
* I received this book free for review from Apex*
4.5
I was very impressed by this short story collection. There's something about the way DeMeester writes that has a dream-like quality to it. I found myself falling into this stories. I've always thought that "weird horror" wasn't my thing, but there was something about this collection that was different. Perhaps it was the way the stories were focused on human relationships (mostly mother-daughter and some romantic) with the other-worldly elements as the background that made it more approachable and interesting to me. DeMeester writes with such poetic language that at times could be so visceral and raw. I don't think this is necessarily "for everyone", but fans of dark atmospheric writing and ambiguity in horror will love it. Excited to read more from this author!
4.5
I was very impressed by this short story collection. There's something about the way DeMeester writes that has a dream-like quality to it. I found myself falling into this stories. I've always thought that "weird horror" wasn't my thing, but there was something about this collection that was different. Perhaps it was the way the stories were focused on human relationships (mostly mother-daughter and some romantic) with the other-worldly elements as the background that made it more approachable and interesting to me. DeMeester writes with such poetic language that at times could be so visceral and raw. I don't think this is necessarily "for everyone", but fans of dark atmospheric writing and ambiguity in horror will love it. Excited to read more from this author!
shellray's review against another edition
3.0
well written, but very strange. some stories are better than others but still enjoyed it.
neixin's review against another edition
4.0
such a beautifully written, thematically consistent collection! i love the way kristi demeester uses horror to explore (primarily familial) relationships. there’s a lot of repeating motifs/imagery which makes the stories a bit hard to differentiate but at the same time makes the collection feel very cohesive. favs: the wicked shall come upon him / like feather, like bone / the tying of tongues / the dream eater / birthright / all that is refracted, broken / december skin / split tongues / to sleep in the dust of the earth
gudrun's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I found the initial stories promising but DeMeester has a tendency to overstate her themes, as well as to rehash imagery from story to story, all I can recall when I think about these are the mythic undertones, which are underdeveloped and a seeming obsession with soil and blood. Disappointing.
tightropetothesun's review against another edition
3.0
This collection of short stories was creepy, unsettling, and poetic -- which I'm sure is what the author set out to accomplish. The stories were very dream-like, and it was often difficult to understand if something supernatural was happening or if it was simply happening in the characters heads. I think that on the whole, the ambiguity connected the stories and set the tone for the collection. It definitely left me feeling like something was off and that I didn't fully understand what was going on (what many of the characters must have been feeling as well), which pulled me deeply into each story.
I was able to read this very quickly because of the incredibly short lengths of most of the stories. This made for good pacing even when I only had a few minutes to sit down and read.
I had the same problems with this one as with the majority of short story collections that I have read-- namely that the stories feel unfinished and unable to stand alone if they weren't a part of this particular collection. I wanted many of them to be more fleshed out and involved. BUT, as I said, this is how I feel about most short story collections, so take it with a grain of salt. Just because a specific type of story doesn't work for me, doesn't mean you wont love it.
Overall, this was very well written literary horror. 3 stars
I was able to read this very quickly because of the incredibly short lengths of most of the stories. This made for good pacing even when I only had a few minutes to sit down and read.
I had the same problems with this one as with the majority of short story collections that I have read-- namely that the stories feel unfinished and unable to stand alone if they weren't a part of this particular collection. I wanted many of them to be more fleshed out and involved. BUT, as I said, this is how I feel about most short story collections, so take it with a grain of salt. Just because a specific type of story doesn't work for me, doesn't mean you wont love it.
Overall, this was very well written literary horror. 3 stars
prettyinpapercuts's review against another edition
5.0
The spiders pushed against my skin, an obscene blooming in the darkness, and I brought my hand to my stomach, pushed their dancing legs flat.
Everything That's Underneath is an incredible collection of short stories. As I've said one thousand times before - I think most short story collections leave me wanting so much more - but this one left me so satisfied.
Kristi DeMeester's voice is so bold. Her writing is somehow beautiful, ethereal, even when the content makes the reader feel deeply unsettled.
It's jerky and stiff-legged and crawls on all fours as if it isn't used to the skin that wraps it. As if it wants to outrun whatever holds it together.
Such lyrical wording for such grotesque images. This collection will linger with you, whether you want it to or not.
Everything That's Underneath is an incredible collection of short stories. As I've said one thousand times before - I think most short story collections leave me wanting so much more - but this one left me so satisfied.
Kristi DeMeester's voice is so bold. Her writing is somehow beautiful, ethereal, even when the content makes the reader feel deeply unsettled.
It's jerky and stiff-legged and crawls on all fours as if it isn't used to the skin that wraps it. As if it wants to outrun whatever holds it together.
Such lyrical wording for such grotesque images. This collection will linger with you, whether you want it to or not.
nbspacegay's review against another edition
2.0
Some of the stories were genuinely spooky, most were too vague and often confusing to be like... interesting for me. None of these stories really knocked it out of the park for me.
romireads's review against another edition
4.0
Everything That’s Underneath is a horror collection of 18 stories that tell of lust, love and death. There are some themes and other things like that, that come back in multiple stories, which give the collection the feeling of it being a whole. For example birds, flying and feathers: in one story a girl is caught eating a bird because she wants to fly and in another a girl seems to be growing feathers.
I really enjoyed reading this collection! It was creepy and the writing style definitely had me imagining the events being described very vividly. However, some of the stories were a bit too vague for me to fully grasp what the story was about and enjoy it. These were a bit too ambiguous to my liking – I like stories where it is what it is, or where the ambiguity is more obvious.
If you’re looking for a creepy and fast read, I recommend Everything That’s Underneath!
I really enjoyed reading this collection! It was creepy and the writing style definitely had me imagining the events being described very vividly. However, some of the stories were a bit too vague for me to fully grasp what the story was about and enjoy it. These were a bit too ambiguous to my liking – I like stories where it is what it is, or where the ambiguity is more obvious.
If you’re looking for a creepy and fast read, I recommend Everything That’s Underneath!
jobis89's review against another edition
3.0
“Sometimes, things are meant to be lost. There are things you aren’t supposed to go looking for.”
A collection of 18 weird and unsettling tales!
*sigh* This was disappointing for me. I had heard such great things about this collection but stories that are very ambiguous and unclear are just not to my personal taste... but if those kind of stories do appeal to you, then I would highly recommend this one!
I’m a sucker for beautifully quotable writing in books, and if it was a case of me physically highlighting the sentences or sections that took my breath away, about 85% of this book would be covered in bright pink highlighter (that’s my fave highlighter colour) DeMeester’s writing has to be some of the most atmospheric and stunningly haunting prose I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I was floored at times!
It just kills me that so many of the stories bored the life out of me. Beautiful writing can only take me so far, I do need some kind of plot that I can follow and not be left scratching my head over. That’s not to say there weren’t some stories that I did really enjoy. The final story in the collection, To Sleep in the Dust of the Earth, was actually my favourite and the only one that received 5 stars in my individual rankings. It was so raw and heart wrenching. I’d highly recommend that one!
The stories overall are hauntingly dream-like and the general themes seemed to be mother/daughter relationships, illnesses, loss... but it became repetitive for me. Worth checking out though if you enjoy weird, dream-like horror that is beautifully written!
The stories scored an average out of 3.33 for me, so 3 stars feels like a fair rating!
A collection of 18 weird and unsettling tales!
*sigh* This was disappointing for me. I had heard such great things about this collection but stories that are very ambiguous and unclear are just not to my personal taste... but if those kind of stories do appeal to you, then I would highly recommend this one!
I’m a sucker for beautifully quotable writing in books, and if it was a case of me physically highlighting the sentences or sections that took my breath away, about 85% of this book would be covered in bright pink highlighter (that’s my fave highlighter colour) DeMeester’s writing has to be some of the most atmospheric and stunningly haunting prose I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I was floored at times!
It just kills me that so many of the stories bored the life out of me. Beautiful writing can only take me so far, I do need some kind of plot that I can follow and not be left scratching my head over. That’s not to say there weren’t some stories that I did really enjoy. The final story in the collection, To Sleep in the Dust of the Earth, was actually my favourite and the only one that received 5 stars in my individual rankings. It was so raw and heart wrenching. I’d highly recommend that one!
The stories overall are hauntingly dream-like and the general themes seemed to be mother/daughter relationships, illnesses, loss... but it became repetitive for me. Worth checking out though if you enjoy weird, dream-like horror that is beautifully written!
The stories scored an average out of 3.33 for me, so 3 stars feels like a fair rating!
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